The looming US import curbs including tariffs and quotas on South Korean goods are expected to take a toll on Korea’s economic indicators, a report showed Thursday.In the wake of regulatory measures starting this year on steel, washing machines and solar cells, Seoul is likely to see some $2.5 billion cut in exports and 16,000 potential job losses here and abroad.  According to a report released by the National Assembly Budget Office, a Korean steel import quota to the US -- equivalen

South Korea’s foreign currency reserves hit an all-time high for four consecutive months as of June this year, central bank data showed Wednesday. Rising reserves, coupled with the moderate level of foreign currency debt and expense in foreign trade, translate into Korea’s robust external stability, according to the government.The accumulated volume of foreign currency reserves including gold came to $400.3 billion in Korea, up $1.3 billion, or 0.3 percent, compared to the previous m

South Korea’s financial market on Tuesday rebounded from Monday’s dip that had brought the top-tier Kospi and second-tier Kosdaq to the lowest in 2018.But analysts noted the market will remain exposed to external uncertainties including persisting trade war threats between China and the US, rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve in sight and widening currency volatility.  Stock markets in Korea found bottoms in Tuesday closing. The Kospi edged up 0.1 percent to close at 2,272.76

The Financial Services Commission on Sunday presented a comprehensive risk management road map for business groups owning financial units, raising the baseline for capital adequacy. Starting Monday, the financial regulator is to activate a special supervision system seeking to detect the financial risk exposure level of subject groups and to prevent risk transfer among affiliates, it said in a release.During the six-month trial period, seven business groups -- Samsung, Hanwha, Kyobo, Mirae Asset

South Korea‘s financial technology startup True Short unveiled Thursday a service that tracks information related to institutional short sellers’ activities.The service, run on paid subscriptions on True Short online platform, aims to enable retail investors to gain access to information exclusive to institutional investors and take pre-emptive actions against a possible fall in stock price due to institutional short-selling practice.The service offers a listed share‘s outstand

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Wednesday it will inspect three banks alleged to have overcharged borrowers for more loans by incorrectly calculating the interest. On Tuesday, KEB Hana Bank, Citibank Korea and Kyongnam Bank were revealed to have taken a combined 2.7 billion won ($2.4 million) in revenue from information input errors such as omitting the borrowers’ income or collateral in lending rate calculations. The Financial Supervisory Service said they will be first lookin

Daewoo Engineering & Construction is seeking to ramp up bids for nuclear reactor construction overseas to lay the groundwork for stable growth amid a change in leadership earlier in June.Plans include bidding in tenders from Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, the company said Wednesday.These will come along with Daewoo E&C’s efforts to clinch orders from Libya’s reconstruction and development projects.  Internal view of Jordan Research and Trainin

South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon stressed Tuesday the need for a soft landing of a policy to shrink the workweek to 52 hours from 68 hours, amid overflowing reports of confusion at workplaces on how to manage the shorter hours.The 52-hour workweek is to go into effect starting Sunday, but the government and the ruling Democratic Party agreed to introduce a six-month grace period for the new scheme last week. “The government will set up a grace period until the end of this y

CPE Cell, South Korea‘s company devoted to clean development mechanism, has developed a blockchain-powered platform to generate and trade carbon emission credits. For now, only parts of its full-fledged version have been released.(CPE Cell)The company introduced technology to trade carbon credit on a distributed ledger platform called Master Node Platform in order to pursue transparency and accuracy in measuring the volume of greenhouse gas reduction. CPE Cell’s own six-phase technology to achie

Woori Bank has acquired Cambodia’s microfinance institution VisionFund Cambodia, becoming a South Korean financial company with the largest offshore retail branch network. Through the acquisition, the Cambodian entity with $196 million total asset as of end-2017 earned the new name of WB Finance, according to Woori Bank Sunday.  The institution with 106 branches across the nation will play the role in microfinance deposit-taking, according to a Woori Bank spokesperson. As a resul

This is the 57th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed. Genie Music Corporation, South Korea‘s second-largest music streaming and downloading platform operator by monthly active users, is gaining investor attention on anticipation that it will shake up the local industry through a forthcoming acquisition deal. On Friday, Genie Music’s market cap in market‘s close came to 337.5 billion won ($303.4 million), the 153rd-larg

Like other East Asian countries, South Korea has long practiced geomancy, or “pungsu jiri” in the local language. While doubt may prevail toward the pseudoscience, some Korean entrepreneurs and politicians have taken to consultants to make the most of a Korean equivalent to China’s feng shui to decide where to live, where to start a business or where to bury the dead. To them, finding an auspicious site has been deemed an essential bid to evade the narrowest chances of bad luck and pursue prospe

Three former Samsung Securities employees were arrested on Thursday for selling unauthorized shares mistakenly given to them as dividends in April.The Seoul Nambu District Court approved the arrest warrants sought for three of the four former employees by the prosecution, citing risk of flight and/or evidence tempering. The court said one of the four did not require to be placed under arrest as the person did not appear to have actively participated in the wrongdoing.The former employees face ch

Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in trade volume, said Wednesday it would suspend transactions in user accounts after some 35 billion won ($31.6 million) worth of assets were stolen.The financial loss stemmed from “abnormal outside access” that occurred from Tuesday night until Wednesday morning, its spokesperson said.  “(Bithumb) will suspend all money deposits or withdrawals, until we secure the stability of the service,” read the

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 17th installment. -- Ed.Foreign workers in South Korea from Southeast Asia or South Asia have faced various hurdles when remitting their income here to a home country.There are language barriers in financial services offered by banks, hefty commission charges and differences in banking service environments, to name a few.Using schemes such as collateral cash pooling, cros

Korean soccer fans reacted strongly as their national soccer team got beaten by Sweden 0-1 in World Cup Russia 2018 Group F match held in Nizhny Novgorod in Russia on Monday. Before the kickoff, thousands of Koreans took to outdoor cheering venues in the streets of South Korea and in Nizhny Novgorod, a city some 425 kilometers east of Moscow, to share their passion for the victory of its national teamAmid the sweltering summer heat here, a flurry of supporters in red uniforms gathered at venues,

South Korea’s local currency fell for four consecutive trading days and breached a seven-month low against the US dollar, amid investor risk aversion and the strengthening dollar following growing fears of a US-China trade war.The dollar-to-won exchange rate came to 1,104.8 won in closing Monday, up 7.1 won compared to the previous session’s close Friday. The higher rate equals weaker won. The Korean won was the weakest in seven months since closing on Nov. 15, 2017 at 1,112.3 won ag

South Korea’s Woori Bank is set to apply for regulatory approval Tuesday to adopt a financial holding company structure.Following a regular board of directors’ meeting Tuesday, the bank will submit a plan for the restructuring to the Financial Services Commission, a financial regulator, according to the company. If the bank manages to earn a regulatory nod from the FSC by mid-November, the reform plan will be confirmed in the shareholders meeting at the end of this year. A new holdin

The increasing pace of household credit in South Korea showed little sign of abating, data showed Sunday, and the lingering debt crisis is likely to affect Korean households‘ finance amid central bank pressure for a key rate hike in tandem with the US Fed hike last week.Total credit to households as a percentage of gross domestic product came to 94.8 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2017, up 2.2 percentage points from the year prior, according to data by the Bank for International Settl

The prosecution has indicted 38 officials from South Korean commercial and provincial banks, including former and incumbent chiefs, on charges of exerting inappropriate influence on entry-level employment, in the latest development in the local financial sector’s hiring scandal.The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Sunday announced it had sent the officials, including KEB Hana Bank Chief Executive Ham Young-joo and ex-CEO of Woori Bank Lee Kwang-goo, to trial. While Ham and Lee were boo